JP7464453B2 - Coating Equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an applicator that applies an adhesive to a workpiece surface, and in particular to an applicator that maintains the positional relationship between a nozzle tip that is arranged at an angle to the workpiece surface and a detection mechanism that detects the adhesive near the nozzle tip, and simultaneously performs the adhesive application process and the measurement process.

The device shown in FIG. 5 is known as a conventional coating device 100. FIG. 5(A) is a schematic diagram illustrating the conventional coating device 100. FIG. 5(B) is a side view illustrating the conventional coating device 100.

As shown in FIG. 5(A), the coating device 100 is a device that applies a sealer to an automobile windshield 101, etc., and mainly includes a robot 102, an automatic coating gun 103 attached to the tip of the robot 102, a sealer supply control panel 104, a sealer supply pump 105, etc. The coating device 100 also includes an offline teaching device 106 and a glass position detection mechanism 107, etc., and the coating gun 103 is taught in advance to move along a coating line (not shown) on the coating surface of the windshield 101.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a bracket 108 extending in the direction of travel is fixed at a certain height from the tip of the nozzle 103A of the coating gun 103, and a height sensor 109, which is a laser range finder, is fixed to the tip of the bracket 108. The height sensor 109 measures the height Y above the coating surface of the windshield 101 prior to the movement of the coating gun 103. Based on the measured data of the height Y, the coating gun 103 controls the tip height H of the nozzle 103A to maintain a reference height Hr via an offline teaching device 106 or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3831462

As described above, in the coating device 100, the height sensor 109 measures the height Y at the coating line prior to the movement of the coating gun 103, and controls the tip height H of the nozzle 103A from the coating surface to maintain the reference height Hr. In other words, in the coating device 100, there is a problem that the time and labor required for teaching work in the offline teaching device 106 and the like increases, and there is also a problem that the cost of the device constituting the offline teaching device 106 also increases.

In addition, in the coating device 100, the height sensor 109 is fixed to the bracket 108 and measures the height Y, which is the distance in the vertical direction to the coating surface, while the coating gun 103 applies the sealer from the vertical direction to the coating surface at the same time as the above measurement operation. Since the nozzle 103A of the coating gun 103 and the height sensor 109 are arranged horizontally spaced apart, in a coating line according to the shape of the windshield 101, the height sensor 109 may measure the curved surface while the coating gun 103 may apply the sealer to a flat surface. In this case, the height sensor 109 cannot measure from the vertical direction to the coating surface, and the coating surface approaches or moves away from the height sensor 109 due to the shape of the curved surface, so there is a problem that the height sensor 109 cannot accurately measure the height Y.

On the other hand, in the opposite situation to the above, there are also cases where the flat surface of the coating line is measured by the height sensor 109 while the coating gun 103 is used to apply sealer to the curved surface of the coating line. In this case, the coating gun 103 maintains the reference height Hr in a direction perpendicular to the curved surface that is the coating surface, so the tip position of the nozzle 103A rises in a direction perpendicular to the coating surface. As a result, the height sensor 109, which is measuring the flat surface, also rises by the amount of the movement via the bracket 108, which poses the problem that the height Y cannot be measured accurately.

In addition, the coating device 100 does not disclose a method for determining whether the bead shape of the sealer applied to the coating surface of the windshield 101 is good or bad. However, if the bead shape is determined to be good or bad as a post-process of the coating process, the coating process and the quality determination process are separate processes, which lengthens the lead time and makes it difficult to reduce manufacturing costs.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a coating device that maintains the positional relationship between the nozzle tip that is arranged at an angle to the work surface and a detection mechanism that detects the adhesive near the nozzle tip, and simultaneously performs the adhesive coating process and the measurement process.

The coating device according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a coating nozzle section that coats an adhesive on the surface of a workpiece, a main body section that supports the coating nozzle section, one end of which is fixed to the main body section and the other end of which is a regulating section that regulates the movement of the coating nozzle section, and a detection mechanism that is fixed to the main body section and detects the adhesive applied to the surface of the workpiece, and is characterized in that the nozzle tip of the coating nozzle section is disposed at an angle with respect to the surface of the workpiece, and the laser emission section of the detection mechanism irradiates the adhesive from above in a direction approximately vertical to the surface of the workpiece while maintaining a state in which it is disposed near the nozzle tip in a direction approximately horizontal to the surface of the workpiece.

In addition, in the coating device described in claim 2 of the present invention, the laser emission unit is disposed rearward of the nozzle tip in the direction of travel of the coating nozzle unit, and the coating nozzle unit applies the adhesive to the surface of the workpiece, while the detection mechanism detects the adhesive immediately after it has been applied from the coating nozzle unit.

The coating device according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that the coating nozzle section is formed with a regulating guide section extending in the travel direction, and the regulating guide section comes into contact with the regulating section to regulate the rotational movement of the coating nozzle section in the approximately horizontal direction.

The coating device according to claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that the main body and the coating nozzle are connected via a ball-shaped movable joint.

The coating device described in claim 5 of the present invention is characterized in that the coating nozzle portion moves over the surface of the workpiece via a guide roller, and the nozzle tip portion applies the adhesive while being spaced apart from the surface of the workpiece.

In the coating device described in claim 1 of the present invention, the laser emission unit of the detection mechanism is maintained in a state in which it is disposed near the tip of the nozzle in a horizontal direction relative to the surface of the workpiece, so that the bead shape of the adhesive can be accurately measured from directly above. This structure simplifies the teaching work, allows the adhesive to be applied to the coating line with high precision, and reduces manufacturing and equipment costs.

In addition, the coating device described in claim 2 of the present invention can improve product quality by accurately measuring the bead shape and using the accurate data to determine the quality of the amount of adhesive applied, the application position, etc. Furthermore, by simultaneously performing the adhesive application process and the measurement process, it is possible to shorten the lead time and reduce manufacturing costs.

In addition, in the coating device described in claim 3 of the present invention, the coating nozzle section travels following the main body section, so that the adhesive can be accurately coated along the coating line on the workpiece.

In addition, in the coating device described in claim 4 of the present invention, the coating nozzle portion is rotatable in the height direction of the coating device, so that shaking caused by steps on the workpiece can be absorbed and the adhesive can be accurately applied along the coating line on the workpiece.

In addition, in the coating device described in claim 5 of the present invention, the nozzle tip of the coating nozzle is separated from the surface of the workpiece via a guide roller, so that the bead shape of the adhesive can be stably formed.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view illustrating a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional coating device, and FIG. 1B is a side view thereof.

First, the coating device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In describing this embodiment, the same components will generally be designated by the same reference numbers, and repeated description will be omitted. The up-down direction indicates the height direction of the coating device 10, the left-right direction indicates the width direction of the coating device 10 when viewed from the rear, and the front-rear direction indicates the depth direction of the coating device 10.

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the coating device 10 of this embodiment. Figure 2 is a front view illustrating the coating device 10 of this embodiment. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the coating device 10 of this embodiment, taken along line A-A in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the coating process and measurement process of an adhesive body 42 on a workpiece 41 by the coating device 10 of this embodiment. For ease of explanation, Figure 3 omits the cross-sectional structure of part of the coating device 10, and illustrates the workpiece 41 and adhesive body 42 that are not shown in Figure 1.

1 and 2, the coating device 10 mainly comprises a coating nozzle unit 11 that coats an adhesive 42 (see FIG. 3) on a surface 41A (see FIG. 3) of a workpiece 41 (see FIG. 3), a main body unit 12 that supports the coating nozzle unit 11, a detection mechanism 13 that is fixed to the side of the main body unit 12 on the rear side of the paper, and a regulating unit 14 that is fixed to the side of the main body unit 12 on the front side of the paper. The coating device 10 is used, for example, by being disposed at the tip of an arm unit 15 of a robot (not shown) in an automobile assembly line or the like. The adhesive 42 is a highly viscous adhesive such as weld bond or sealer.

The coating nozzle section 11 mainly comprises a nozzle section 16 that ejects the adhesive 42 from its nozzle tip section 16A, a nozzle base section 17 that supports the nozzle section 16, guide rollers 18, 31 (see FIG. 2) that are disposed on the nozzle base section 17, and a restricting guide section 19 that is part of the nozzle base section 17 and extends forward on the page, which is the direction of travel of the coating device 10. The nozzle section 16 and the nozzle tip section 16A are disposed at an angle with respect to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41.

The pair of guide rollers 18 are disposed on the rear side of the nozzle base 17 in the drawing, and the nozzle tip 16A is disposed between the pair of guide rollers 18, in the approximate central region of the nozzle base 17. Meanwhile, one guide roller 31 (see FIG. 2) is disposed in the approximate central region of the nozzle base 17 on the front side of the nozzle base 17 in the drawing. The nozzle base 17 is able to move on the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 via the three guide rollers 18, 31. And the nozzle tip 16A is disposed away from the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 via the guide rollers 18, 31.

The main body 12 mainly comprises a base 20, a shaft 32 (see FIG. 2) and springs 21, 22 that adjust the movement of the coating device 10 in the height direction (up and down on the paper), and a movable joint 43 (see FIG. 3) for movably connecting to the coating nozzle 11. Details will be described later, but the main body 12 is movable in the height direction of the coating device 10, and the coating process of the adhesive 42 is performed with the desired pressing force applied to the coating nozzle 11, thereby preventing the adhesive 42 from being coated in a meandering manner relative to the coating line.

For example, a non-contact laser displacement meter is used as the detection mechanism 13. The housing 13A of the detection mechanism 13 is fixed to the side of the base 20 of the main body 12 on the rear side of the paper. As will be described in detail later, the laser emission unit 46 (see FIG. 3) of the detection mechanism 13 is disposed approximately directly above the nozzle tip 16A and irradiates the adhesive 42 with a line laser in a cross direction, for example, an orthogonal direction, measures the bead shape of the adhesive 42 for each cross section, and judges whether the bead shape of the adhesive 42 is good or bad.

The regulating unit 14 mainly has a base 23, a rotation regulating unit 24 that is supported by the base 23 and regulates the rotational movement of the application nozzle unit 11, and a pole unit 25 that supports the rotation regulating unit 24 below the base 23.

The base 23 is fixed to the side of the base 20 of the main body 12 on the front side of the paper. The rotation restriction part 24 has a top plate 24A extending in the front-to-rear direction of the paper, and a pair of restriction plates 24B extending in the up-down direction of the paper from both sides of the top plate 24A.

The top plate 24A is disposed in a movable state relative to the pole portion 25 at the front side of the paper, while it is fastened and fixed to the shaft portion 32 at the rear side of the paper. The top plate 24A is supported by being sandwiched between the spring portions 21 and 22. The spring portion 21 is disposed in a state in which it biases the top plate 24A downward on the paper, and the spring portion 22 is disposed in a state in which it biases the top plate 24A upward on the paper.

As shown in FIG. 2, the restricting guide portion 19 of the coating nozzle portion 11 is inserted between the pair of restricting plates 24B. The restricting guide portion 19 is always positioned between the pair of restricting plates 24B and is disposed with a slight clearance from the restricting plates 24B. With this structure, the restricting guide portion 19 comes into contact with the restricting plates 24B, restricting the horizontal rotational movement of the coating nozzle portion 11, and the coating nozzle portion 11 moves along the coating line following the main body portion 12 without meandering.

As shown in FIG. 3, the coating device 10 is disposed at the tip of the arm 15 of a robot (not shown), and applies the adhesive 42 to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 while traveling along a coating line (not shown) on the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 based on the conditions set for the coating process by a control device within the robot.

The main body 12 and the application nozzle 11 are connected via a movable joint 43. As shown in the figure, the upper end of the shaft 32 is slidably inserted into a recess 44 provided on the bottom surface of the base 20, and the lower end is fixed to the movable joint 43. The main body 12 can then move up and down on the page while being guided by the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 32, using the space 45 of the recess 44.

The movable joint portion 43 has a spherical portion 43A into which the shaft portion 32 is inserted, and a base portion 43B that supports the spherical portion 43A in a rotatable state, and the lower end portion of the base portion 43B is fixed to the nozzle base portion 17 of the application nozzle portion 11. As shown by arrows 48 and 49, the application nozzle portion 11 is connected by the movable joint portion 43 to the main body portion 12 in a rotatable state in the height direction of the application device 10.

This structure allows the main body 12 to move in the height direction of the coating device 10 via the arm 15 of the robot (not shown), and the coating process of the adhesive 42 can be performed with the desired pressing force being applied to the coating nozzle 11. The coating nozzle 11 moves while being pressed toward the workpiece 41, preventing the coating nozzle 11 from traveling off the coating line, even on the curved surface of the workpiece 41, and preventing the adhesive 42 from being coated off the coating line.

In addition, minute uneven shapes may be formed on the surface of the workpiece 41 during pressing, but to a degree that does not affect product quality. Even in this case, the desired pressing force is applied to the coating nozzle unit 11, and the coating nozzle unit 11 rotates in the height direction of the coating device 10 relative to the main body unit 12. With this structure, even if the coating nozzle unit 11 vibrates during travel due to the uneven shape, the movable joint unit 43 and spring units 21 and 22 can absorb the vibration. As a result, the coating nozzle unit 11 is prevented from traveling in a meandering manner relative to the coating line, and the adhesive body 42 is prevented from being applied in a meandering manner relative to the coating line.

As described above, the coating device 10 has a mechanism that makes it difficult for the coating device 10 to meander along the coating line of the workpiece 41, which simplifies the teaching operation and enables the adhesive 42 to be accurately applied to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41. As a result, the simplified teaching mechanism can reduce manufacturing costs and equipment costs associated with teaching.

Next, the application process and measurement process of the adhesive 42 by the application device 10 will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle tip 16A of the coating nozzle 11 of the coating device 10 is connected to a supply mechanism (not shown) for the adhesive 42 via a supply line 47, and during the coating process, the adhesive 42 is pumped from the supply mechanism to the coating device 10. Then, while the coating device 10 is traveling, the adhesive 42 is applied from the nozzle tip 16A to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 along a coating line (not shown).

The nozzle tip 16A is not positioned approximately perpendicular to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41, but is arranged at an angle α1 with respect to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41, facing backward in the direction of travel of the coating device 10. With this structure, the adhesive body 42 does not interfere with the nozzle tip 16A, and an adhesive body 42 of a fixed shape is formed along the coating line. Then, in a later process, the workpiece 41 is assembled in the desired area of the vehicle, and at that time, quality defects such as the adhesive body 42 protruding from the outer edge of the workpiece 41 or the desired adhesive strength not being obtained due to a lack of adhesive body 42 are prevented from occurring.

As shown in the figure, the laser emission unit 46 of the detection mechanism 13 is disposed near the nozzle tip 16A, approximately directly above the adhesive 42 dispensed from the nozzle tip 16A. As described above, the nozzle tip 16A is disposed at an angle with respect to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41, so that the adhesive 42 dispensed from the nozzle tip 16A is not covered from above by the application nozzle portion 11. As a result, the detection mechanism 13 can immediately measure the bead shape of the adhesive 42 dispensed from the nozzle tip 16A.

Figure 4 shows the working situation in which the coating device 10 coats the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 with adhesive 42 on the flat and curved portions of the workpiece 41 and measures the bead shape of the coated adhesive 42. As described above with reference to Figure 3, the laser emission unit 46 of the detection mechanism 13 is positioned approximately perpendicular to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 and irradiates the adhesive 42 with a line laser in a direction perpendicular to the surface 41A. The detection mechanism 13 then measures the bead shape of the adhesive 42 immediately after it is ejected from the nozzle tip 16A. In other words, the laser emission unit 46 of the detection mechanism 13 is positioned horizontally near the nozzle tip 16A.

This structure makes it possible to irradiate the adhesive body 42 with a line laser from a direction approximately perpendicular to the adhesive body 42 not only when the applicator 10 runs on the flat surface of the workpiece 41, as shown in FIG. 4, but also when the applicator 10 runs on the curved surface of the workpiece 41, and thus makes it possible to accurately determine whether the bead shape of the adhesive body 42 is good or bad. As a result, the applicator 10 can use the result of the good or bad determination to accurately perform quality inspections such as whether the amount of adhesive body 42 applied satisfies a set value and whether the adhesive body 42 is applied along a coating line.

Furthermore, when the coating device 10 travels along the coating line of the workpiece 41, it applies the adhesive 42 to the surface 41A of the workpiece 41 while simultaneously measuring the bead shape of the applied adhesive 42. With this operating method, the coating device 10 simultaneously performs the coating process and the measurement process of the adhesive 42, shortening the lead time and reducing manufacturing costs.

In this embodiment, the coating device 10 is described as being installed at the tip of the arm 15 of a robot (not shown) in an automobile assembly line or the like, but the present invention is not limited to this case. For example, the coating device 10 may be self-propelled, and the same effect can be obtained in this case as well. In addition, various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Coating device 11 Coating nozzle section 12 Main body section 13 Detection mechanism 14 Regulating section 16 Nozzle section 16A Nozzle tip section 17 Nozzle base section 18, 31 Guide roller 19 Regulating guide section 20 Base section 21, 22 Spring section 23 Base section 24 Rotation regulating section 24A Top plate 24B Regulating plate 25 Pole section 32 Shaft section 41 Workpiece 42 Adhesive body 43 Movable joint section 44 Recessed section 45 Space section 46 Laser emitting section

Claims (5)

A coating nozzle portion that coats an adhesive on a surface of a workpiece;
A main body portion supporting the application nozzle portion;
A regulating portion, one end of which is fixed to the main body portion and the other end of which regulates the movement of the application nozzle portion;
A detection mechanism is fixed to the main body and detects the adhesive body applied to the surface of the workpiece,
A nozzle tip of the application nozzle portion is disposed at an angle with respect to the surface of the workpiece,
A coating device characterized in that the laser emission unit of the detection mechanism irradiates the adhesive from above in a direction approximately vertical to the surface of the workpiece while maintaining a state in which it is arranged near the tip of the nozzle in a direction approximately horizontal to the surface of the workpiece. The laser emission unit is disposed rearward of the nozzle tip in a traveling direction of the application nozzle unit,
The coating device according to claim 1 , wherein the coating nozzle unit coats the adhesive material on the surface of the workpiece, while the detection mechanism detects the adhesive material immediately after it has been coated from the coating nozzle unit. The application nozzle portion is formed with a regulating guide portion extending in the traveling direction,
The coating device according to claim 2 , wherein the restricting guide portion restricts a rotational movement of the coating nozzle portion in the substantially horizontal direction by contacting with the restricting portion. The coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the main body and the coating nozzle are connected via a ball-shaped movable joint. The coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the coating nozzle moves over the surface of the workpiece via a guide roller, and the nozzle tip applies the adhesive while being spaced apart from the surface of the workpiece.

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